Whisper In The Wind: A 911 Tribute
by TwiSagaLoverxx
Summary: A tribute to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Bella looks back on the harrowing times of 9/11, and on her last moments with the one she loves.


**Whisper In The Wind: A 9/11 Tribute**

**Anything Twilight related belongs to Stephane Meyer. I'm just using her character's. This story is my own, and no Beta'd. So please forgive the mistakes!**

She stared into the large black hole, watching the water trickle down the walls and straight through the bottom. Her heart both swelled and broke as she felt the name engraved on the cool, black stone beneath her fingertips.

It had been so long now, and yet she still felt the pain like it was the first day without him by her side. Her head felt dizzy, her palms were sweating and her chest felt the stinging pain of what felt like hundreds of knives pierces her heart. This feeling had only dulled to an ache over the years, but still, it remained.

She would never forget the last time she spoke to him.

"_Come on, come on. Pick up..." she muttered as she paced frantically around her living room, CNN playing in the distance._

"_Yeah, I'm here." A voice finally panted out on the other end of the line._

"_Edward? Oh, god, are you alright? Are you out? Where are you? I just saw on the news-" she rambled._

"_Woah, slow down. I'm fine, no harm done." He chuckled, though the sound was strained._

"_Where are you? It sound's loud." She held a hand over the ear not occupied by the phone, trying to hear of the crackling and murmuring on the line._

"_Uh, the forty second floor I think. We're being evacuated through emergency exits 'cause the elevators are shot. I don't know what's going on. People are saying it's a bomb. It's fucking chaos." He huffed out. "Hey, watch it, asshole!"_

"_What? What happened?" She stopped, her heart picking up pace._

"_Nothing, just getting shoved around a lot. People are panicking. Is there anything on TV about this?"_

"_I have the news on but I'm not sure whats going on. But there's smoke, and a lot of it."_

"_Yeah, its pretty stuffy in here."_

"_I just." She paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."_

"_Bella, I'm fine. Don't worry, Okay? I'm gonna get out of here and be home soon. Hey, maybe tonight we should order in instead of going out. I'm itching for some chinese." He chuckled and she smiled._

"_How you can make me smile right now is unreal. I love you." She sighed._

"_You love me? Not suprising, its all part of my charm, baby." he snorted and she laughed. "I love you, too."_

_There was a moment of silence between them, the only sounds to be heard was the shuffling of feet and quiet but rushed murmurs. _

"_Oh, did you pick up my suit from the dry cleaners? I need it for Alice's wedding next week and-" he never finished because the line went dead._

"_Edward? Edward, are you there?" She pulled the phone away from her ear and slapped her hand on the screen before bringing it back up to listen. "Edward?...No, fuck!"_

_She threw the phone down on the table and collapsed on the couch, her heart heavy._

_Only moments later, she watched as the south tower caved in, and collapsed to the ground, taking thousands of people with it._

_Taking her Edward away from the earth, and away from her._

Bella was snapped back to the present by the rising of voices around her, She laid her head down against the cool marble, feeling the egraving of the name press into her hand.

Edward Anthony Cullen.

At the age of 26, he used to be the air she breathed. He had been the focal point of her life from the age of 15 years old. From the moment they had met at the dingy skate park, they'd been inseparable.

"_Ow!" She yelled as she slammed into a wall of boy, falling back on her ass._

"_Shit!" A voice exclaimed from above her._

_Edward kneeled in front of her, his eyes roaming over every inch of her body frantically. Bella however, scowled up at him, trying not to notice his stunning green eyes or how he smelled of mint and clean and plain old boy._

"_I'm so sorry, I didn't see you." He apologized._

"_Clearly." She huffed, ignoring his outstretched hand and standing up._

_Bella, being her clumsy self, stumbled forward, only to be caught. Big, slighty gangly hands gripped her shoulders, and she gasped, her hands automatically going to his chest. They both stared at each other for a moment unmoving._

"_Yeah, Cullen! Tap that ass!" Tyler Crowley called, as he stood beind Mike newton, mimicking smacking his ass._

"_Screw you, dick!" Edward growled._

"_Asshole!" Bella yelled at the same time._

_They both looked at each other and laughed before stepping away from each other._

"_I'm Edward." He smiled._

"_Isabella-Um, Bella. I mean Bella." She stuttered, and mentally slapped her self._

_He merely chuckled and stepped back, slapping his forgotten skateboard against the pavement. "See you around?"_

"_Yeah," She nodded and smiled, watching as he flipped his board and rolled away._

He asked her out onnly hours later, appearing outside her house looking sheepish and downright sexy to her all at once. They had stayed together all through high school, finally graduating and moving away together to attend university.

It wasn't always an easy relationship.

_**Bang Bang Bang**_

_Bella looked up from her computer, her bleary eyes confused. She glance at the time. 1:45am. She peeked at the door again, grateful for the three barreled lock. She shook her head and turned back to her ancient laptop._

_**Bang Bang Bang.**_

"_Jesus," She groaned before yelling out, "Go away!"_

"_Open the door!" Edward yelled back, followed by more thumping on her door._

_After a solid 20 minutes, she finally stomped to the door, swinging it open._

"_What?" She barked._

"_Where is he?" He asked, his voice slurring._

"_You're drunk." She glared._

"_No shit." Edward pushed by her and into her dorm room. "Where's Jake? No late night study group?"_

_She sighed. "No, I'm on my own. But please, go ahead and check under my bed, and in my closet."_

"_Don't be a bitch." He growled, rooting through her drawers, needing something for his suddenly pounding head._

"_Then don't come in here, drunk, and accuse me of cheating. _Again._" She slammed the door closed._

"_He's always hanging around you like a fucking dog!" Edward yells. "You think eyes can't see him undressing you with his eyes?!"_

"_It doesn't matter, because I'm with you!" She shouts right back. "I love _you!_" _

_He sighs and takes a step forward. "Bella,"_

"_No!" She steps back. "Don't bother."_

_The sound of the bedroom door slamming end's their fight._

But their good times outweighed the bad. And that was proven when they married at age 22, in a small cermony in Central Park, surrounded by their family and close friends.

They'd had plans to start a family, eventually, when they'd moved out of the tiny apartment they inhabited. A dog and a cat on the cards, as they couldn't decide on one. A porch swing, big back yard, joint savings account. You name it, they had a plan for it.

Now, Bella was trying her best to continue their plas on her own.

She glanced up as speeches were made, talking about the terrible loss of life, and how we are one nation rang through her ears. A choir sang for the crowds of mourners, a hauntingly beautiful song as people stepped up to the podium and read out the names of their beloved and lost ones.

But Bella found to hard to focus as memories of Edward clouded her mind. Thier first date, first kiss, first fight, their first time. Holidays, and lazy mornings in bed with his cold toes tickling her legs, bright green eyes under the duvet. Laughing, Crying, Making Love, Making Life.

All with him.

"Mom?" A small hand tugged her own, pulling Bella out of her thoughts,

She looked down at her 12 year old daughter with a smile. "Mmm?"

She pointed to a woman, sobbing hysterically into the arms of what looked like her mother. "She's crying."

"Well, it's because she misses someone very much." Bella whispered to her child, hearing the question in her tone.

"Just like you miss Daddy?"

"Yeah, just like that." She nodded.

Bella gazed down at her daughter, so thankful for the gift she'd been given. It was only weeks after Edward's death, that she discovered she was pregnant. She's spent the whole pregnancy in a state of shock, not beliveing her husband to be gone. ot believing she was pregnant. It wasn't until the bright green eyes of Elizabeth Cullen that bella broke. Her dark hair and brown eyes had no place on her daughter's features.

Ellie was a daddy's girl in every way.

For the next hour, Bella and Ellie stood in silence, listening as people around them told stories and remebered their loved. When the memorial ended, Bella was reluctant to leave. His name, was the closest she had to him and she felt closer here, standing where he once worked, than at the graveyard, where and empty grave remained with his name above it.

"Can we go now?" Ellie whined.

"In a second, El." Bella murmured, pulling a piece of paper and pencil from her bag. She placed the paper over her husbands name and began sketching.

After today, she would never return here. New York no longer felt like home. The memories of life without Edward were too painful, and overode everything good about her life there. She wanted different for her daughter, so she planned to take her back to Forks, where she'd grown up and where her parents stil remained. Where she'd first met Edward.

A soft breeze picked up, making Elizabeth clutch her coat tighter to herself. "I want ice cream."

"Ice cream? You're shivering, honey," Bella chuckled, tucking away the sketch safely in her purse.

"But it's so yummy! I want a chocolate chip sundae. Oh! Or maybe mint! I'm gonna get sprinkles and chocolate chips and-"

"Okay, Okay," Bella lauhed, cutting Ellie off. "But we're not staying to long. We have a flight to catch."

"_Okay_," Ellie sighed.

Bella turned and ran her hand softly over the engraving one last time. "Love you," She whispered.

On the walk back to the car, Ellie skipped ahead, swinging her arms and humming her own little tune and Bella smiled at the little slice of Edward she still had.

She got her daughter settled into the back seat before checking their luggage. She slammed down the trunk door and leaned against it, closing her eyes for a moment.

She thought of Edward, gangly and awkward, eventually growing strong and tall. His handsome face smiled crookedly at her from behind her closed eyelids. She would always miss her love, but was also thankful for the 12 years she got to spend loving him. Being loved _by _him.

And as a strong breeze blew her hair back and away from her face, she opened her eyes and gave a watery eyed smile, swearing she heard his laugh surround her...

Like a whisper in the wind.

**A/N: I wrote this on the 11****th**** anniversary of the attack on the US., but was never brave enough to share. This is not a true story, nor is it based on absolute fact. A few details were changed to fit this short tale, but in no way is it meant to demean or insult anyone. This is simply my small contribution to a day that I feel people should pay respect to.**

**In the memory of the all the souls who suffered 9/11, and to the families who still grieve their loved ones. **

**Thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome :D**


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